Many people look back on the mid-1990s with nostalgia. On Thursday nights, millions of Americans gathered in front of our televisions for NBC’s “must-see TV” to watch “Seinfeld” and “Friends.”
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We thought being an adult meant spending our free time hanging out at diners or coffee houses. And New York real estate was cheap. Or was it?
GOBankingRates explore how much the apartment featured in “Friends” would rent for in 2026.
New York Real Estate Prices Then
In 1993, one year before the show began, a two-bedroom apartment in the city rented for an average of $2,350, according to The New York Times. These figures don’t break down prices by neighborhood, but the West Village was (and remains) a hot neighborhood, so prices may have been higher.
By 2004, when “Friends” wrapped up, two-bedroom apartments rented for as much as $3,393, per New York Post.
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Could Monica, Rachel, Joey and Chandler Really Afford Their Apartments?
In either decade, the “Friends'” digs at 90 Bedford Street on the corner of Grove Street in the West Village likely would have cost more than Monica and Rachel were likely to be able to afford.
The answer? Rent stabilization. The New York Times article from 1994 wrote that 70% of the city’s 1.9 million apartments were rent-stabilized or rent-controlled at the time.
The show went deeper to explain how Monica, who was relatively early in her career as a professional chef, and Rachel, who worked as a waitress at Central Perk and later as a retail buyer, could afford their spacious apartment with the floor-to-ceiling window and roof access. Monica inherited the apartment from her grandmother.
This is a reasonable scenario, according to VillagePreservation.org, since grandchildren were entitled to succession rights to rent stabilization apartments in certain circumstances.
As for Joey and Chandler’s smaller apartment across the hall, Chandler’s corporate job and Joey’s acting gigs may have been enough to keep them afloat. According to New York City real estate blog 6sqft.com, Chandler and Joey may have moved in before 1993 changes to rent stabilization laws that permitted landlords only modest rent increases for existing tenants.
The ‘Friends’ Apartment Today
Zillow shows virtually rendered pictures of newly-renovated apartments in the old tenement building. All are listed as off-market, and the bright, open-floor plan units look nothing like the “Friends” apartments. A two-bedroom, one-bath unit on the fourth floor had a Zestimate of $6,097.
A listing at StreetEasy.com notes that the building has 16 units and all are occupied. Rents for two-bedroom, one-bath units in 2025 ranged from $7,312 to $8,800, making it even less affordable for 20-somethings getting started in their careers today.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much Would the ‘Friends’ Apartment Rent For in 2026?
